I do not see the need for the US to support EastMed, said former special adviser to US President Obama Amos Hochstein, saying that the EastMed pipeline will not be completed because it is a very expensive and complex project with no economic viability.
Speaking on Turkish state television TRT World's documentary The Pipe Dream, Amos Hochstein said that no economic feasibility study has been presented for the East Med pipeline since 2016. He argued that in the last five years, all that had been done was to sign maps and memoranda and the European Union had never endorsed the project, despite some ministers talking about EU support.
The former US diplomat said that "multi-billion dollar projects should be guided by their economic viability and not by political motives."
Amos Hochstein also argued that no bank or international financial institution would finance the East-Med pipeline. The pipeline will not be implemented because it is too complicated, too expensive and happens too slowly, the former US diplomat added.
He also said that "you can have a pipeline much cheaper to go from Israel through Cyprus to Turkey. And Turkey is already connected to Europe and all its neighbors so it makes sense. While I was special adviser under Obama we had an open dialogue with Turkey. With President Erdogan and the then Secretary of Energy. The energy issue was in many discussions between Vice President Joe Biden and President Erdogan."
The former U.S. diplomat said that many have tried to bring a solution to the Cyprus problem but it is a refrigerated dispute. Everything is cold and frozen, the only thing that is changing in the region is the discovery of hydrocarbons around Cyprus.
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
